Labor will launch another attack against Rishi Sunak today, accusing him of raising taxes on working people while his family benefited from a loophole.
Despite growing backlash against the “gutter politics” of their recent ad campaign, the opposition is digging in by publishing a poster criticizing the Conservatives over tax policies.
Labor sparked outrage last week when it shared an image on Twitter suggesting Sunak does not believe adults convicted of child sexual abuse should go to prison.
It was condemned across the political spectrum – with a host of senior Labor figures urging the party to abolish it. But Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Mail he stands by “every word”.
It has since sparked allegations of hypocrisy when it emerged that Sir Keir attended 21 meetings to help draft sentencing guidelines that would allow convicted pedophiles to avoid prison – before Mr Sunak became an MP.
Labor will launch another attack against Rishi Sunak today, accusing him of raising taxes on working people while his family benefited from a loophole. Pictured: Rishi Sunak and wife, Akshata Murthy
Labor sparked outrage last week when it suggested Mr Sunak does not believe adults convicted of sexually assaulting children or those possessing a gun with intent to harm should go to jail
On Friday, Labor ran another assault advert – this time Mr Sunak is suggesting that adults convicted of possessing a weapon with intent to cause harm should not be jailed.
The following day, Labor shared another advertisement suggesting that the Prime Minister does not believe thieves should be punished.
Today, the party is sharing a fourth, similar attack ad, with a photo of the PM smiling.
In addition, it is asked: ‘Do you think it is right to tax working people if your family benefits from a tax loophole? Rishi Sunak does.” The poster claims that the Tories have ‘raised taxes 24 times since 2019, leaving the British people with their highest tax burden in 70 years’.
It also criticizes the government for not closing the ‘non-dom tax loophole’. It adds: ‘A Labor government would freeze your council tax this year, paid for by a decent windfall tax on oil and gas giants.’
Mr Sunak faced a backlash last year over his wife Akshata Murty’s former non-dom status. Ms Murty, whose father is a billionaire entrepreneur, gave up non-dom tax status after the row and said she would start paying UK taxes on all her worldwide income.
A Tory source hit back at the latest poster last night. They said: ‘This is the height of hypocrisy from a party that has already spent £90bn in unfunded spending and whose leader will benefit from a bespoke, tax unregistered pension scheme unavailable to others.
Rishi Sunak has a plan to cut inflation in half, grow the economy and reduce debt. Sir Keir only has a plan to play politics on Twitter.’
Pictured: Labor Party leader Keir Starmer at The Annexe Community Center on April 3, 2023 in Hartlepool, England
Sir Keir has also sent a memo to his shadow cabinet colleagues urging them to ‘remain relentlessly focused on exposing the failures of 13 years of this divided and weak Conservative government and demonstrating how we would perform for the working people across the country.
Sir Keir praises the ‘excellent progress’ made so far in ‘exposing the government’s failure in crime’, despite widespread condemnation.
The memo says Labor will now shift its focus to the cost-of-living crisis ahead of next month’s local elections. Sir Keir writes: ‘We know that a Labor government would focus on tackling the cost of living, making better choices and growing the economy. It is our duty to continue to deliver our message to the British people. I don’t apologize for that at all.’
It came as damning documents unearthed by the Mail reveal that Sir Keir attended 21 of 23 meetings before new sex offender sentencing guidelines were enforced.
He was involved in drafting guidelines recommending that judges can issue community orders for a range of child crimes, including sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13.
The new poster read: “Do you think it is right to raise taxes for working people if your family benefits from a tax loophole? Rishi Sunak does.” Pictured: Rishi Sunak in the offices of the National Society
Sir Keir never publicly objected when he and legal experts discussed that some sex offenders walk free at monthly meetings of the Sentencing Council – the quango that advises judges and magistrates on how to punish criminals.
Sir Keir, who was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, has met 21 times since April 2011 with fellow members of the Sentencing Council in preparing a ‘final directive’ on sex offences.
This came into effect in April 2014 and offered community service as a possible punishment for 20 of the 52 crimes they investigated, including eight child crimes.
A Tory source told the Mail last night: ‘This is yet another example of Keir Starmer playing politics and offering absolutely nothing. He helped write the guidelines for sentencing child molesters and now blames others for his appalling failures at the CPS. He should act decent and apologize to the victims and families for failing so badly.”
A Labor spokesperson said: ‘The role of the Sentencing Council is to ensure sentencing consistency, not fabricate sentences.’
